The Final Battle of the Clans
by WarriorKit
Summary: *SPOILERS FOR OOTS*  Its breaking point for the clans. They must prepare to fight alongside their ancestors for the future of Starclan and all clan cats. Its now or never for the three.
1. Ivypool's Heartbreak

**Hello everybody. I'm sorry for not writing anything lately. I haven't updated "The Rising of the Snake, and the Prophecy" in a long time and for that I'm sorry. This is something I wrote a couple of days ago out of boredom, but I'm not sure if it is worth finishing. If it were to be finished, it would be about the battle between the Dark Forest and StarClan. Please leave feedback :)**

**Thanks**

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><p>This was it. The big moment. Everything that Ivypool had trained for. Despite the tension slicing through the air like unsheathed claws she felt excitement pricking in her white paws. This was for Bumblestripe. For their kits. For everything that could've and should've happened. Ivypool tried to keep calm but it was impossible with all the unfamiliar scents that encased her that night. She could hear the hushed mewing of the Clan leaders as they held a deep conference. She knew all too well that Firestar was on his last life. She had watched him die before. Watch the green light fade from his eyes as his life slowly slipped away. But alas, his death was not the only one that she had seen that day. Sandstorm, Poppyfrost, Cherrypaw, Thornclaw and Bumblestripe had all fallen under Mapleshade's bloodied claws. Ivypool choked back her yowl of grief. Bumblestripe. She dug her claws into her nest and sobbed quietly in the hope she would not wake her kits. Patchkit, Graykit and Spottedkit did not stir. How Ivypool envied them now. But also, she pitied them; they would never know their father. She longed for Bumblestripe's gentle embrace, telling her it'll all be fine and how he'll protect them forever. At only a few hours old, Ivypool and Bumblestripe's kits knew nothing of the terror that was about to be unleashed on the Clans. Ivypool remembered with a pang that Bumblestripe had kept his promise until the end. Ivypool rested her head on her paws and tried to blot out the gentle snores of all four clans as they lay together beneath the moonlight.<p> 


	2. A Short Time Earlier

**I have decided to finish this story after all. For once I'm not making it up as I go along :)**

**This is set a short time earlier, about a moon. So Ivypool is still pregnant and the cats who will die are still alive. **

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><p>Firestar's paws rested into the little crooks on the top of the Highledge. He stared down at his clan. They sat around him, their leader, their faces bright with anticipation at the words that had not yet tumbled from his lips. His clan. ThunderClan. Named for Thunder, their founder, and the dangerous path of hard stones and foul stenches that lay beside their old territory. ThunderClan was brave, ThunderClan was strong but yet, their mighty leader was nervous. A cat looking in from the outside would think he was being unreasonable. There was no shortage of kits or prey, nor was leaf bare close. To the average cat, Firestar was worrying unnecessarily. But to a StarClan cat, staring in with their large all-knowing eyes and starry pelts, Firestar had much reason to weep for his clan's safety. The Dark Forest was rising, and all the terror in the world was about to be unleashed on four, utterly unprepared clans. Firestar swallowed and raised his emerald gaze up to the sky- and his ancestors. <em>StarClan give me strength. <em>He thought.

"Cats of ThunderClan," He began, there was no need to summon them, for they were already gathered.

"I have vitally important information to share with you."

Firestar scanned the cats below him; his heart throbbed as he realized how much each one meant to him. Cherrypaw and Molepaw, apprenticed only a few moons ago, sat wide eyed beside Daisy, a cat who risked everything to save her first litter of kits. The queens, Icecloud, Hazeltail and Ivypool. Icecloud lying just outside the nursery, her head bowed and her ears flicking nervously as she desperately wanted to return to Mousewhisker's day old kits. Hazeltail's kits were almost a moon old; they were oblivious to their leader as they wrestled near Thornclaw, their father. Firestar's whiskers twitched as he remembered the way Thornclaw had pretty much overnight warmed up to the younger she-cat in the same way Dustpelt had fallen in love with Ferncloud. Ivypool was still awaiting her own kits; she sat with her pelt pressed into Bumblestripe's, her swollen belly rounded with the kits she would soon bear. Bumblestripe pressed his nose affectionately into her cheek, and muttered words of comfort that Firestar could not quite make out.

"We are at war," Firestar almost choked. Sandstorm, his mate, the mother of his kits, blinking with her round green eyes beside Cloudtail, his nephew, "But this time, not against another clan,"

Firestar noticed the gleams of interest in the eyes of his younger warriors, the ones who had never been in life threatening battles and had the sour tang of blood on their tongue as the ripped into the fur of another cat. Berrynose's stumpy tail flicked in excitement, his nose raised high into the air, his mate Poppyfrost beside him. Poppyfrost pressed her nose affectionately into his shoulder. Berrynose blatantly didn't acknowledge his mate's gesture. Firestar also saw the slight droop in the ears of his senior warriors, they knew what this meant, cats were going to get injured, maybe even be killed and join StarClan's ranks. Graystripe and Dustpelt looked at the ground, Firestar was sure that Graystripe was once again experiencing the icy thorns of grief on his heart as he watched the broken body of Lionheart be dragged away to be buried.

"This time, my warriors, we are battling alongside StarClan themselves, not metaphorically, but physically."

Firestar had braced himself for the uproar, but he may as well be an insignificant kit from the reaction of the clan. The yowls of confusion and shock thundered through his head like the squawking of a million crows.

"How can this be possible?"

"Is it true?"

"But how can StarClan fight alongside us?"

"Who's the enemy?"

Firestar felt a cold prickle along his spine. Brambleclaw sat just below him on a rock, his twitching tail tucked neatly over his paws and his dark amber eyes glinting with impatience. Suddenly, the dark warrior rose to his feet, hackles raised.

"Silence!" He yowled. As quickly as if thunder had strook, the crowd hushed, intimidated by the brown tabby's words. Firestar stepped back at the force in his deputy's voice. He had noticed recently that Brambleclaw was helping him in more and more duties of his leadership. It had caused Firestar great worry that Brambleclaw seemed to think that he was incapable of performing these tasks himself. Firestar hunched over, forcing his ginger neck fur to lie flat.

"Thank you, Brambleclaw," He mewed coldly. He raised his head, "Not all cats make it into paradise, or as we know it, StarClan. Not every cat deserves to live eternally with a full belly and perfect health. Noble warriors before us, have made it into StarClan's ranks, less honorable warriors do not enter StarClan."

Firestar could see that the clan was getting nervous. Icecloud had vanished into the nursery, and Firestar could see the fluffy gray and white body of Mousewhisker making his way through the crowd to his mate and kits. Thornclaw, who moments ago had been letting his kits play with his tail, was now scraping his tongue across his son Pebblekit's gray forehead in an attempt to calm him. His sister was asleep at her mother's paws. Hazeltail kept still in order to not wake her precious kit, her blue eyes round with fear as she locked them with Firestar. Her message was clear. _Do not let anything hurt or scare my kits. _Firestar blinked and looked away, his heart wrenching for the safety of her and all the queens and their kits. He remembered Sandstorm when she was expecting Squirrelflight and Leafpool, how he would have fought with Tigerstar for her and run endless lengths to keep her safe. He hoped that Thornclaw felt the same way.

"There is another place for cats after they die," he continued, "Cats who not believe in StarClan just vanish, never to be heard from again, but wicked cats who acknowledged StarClan's existence are banished to the Place of No Stars, or as StarClan cats call it, the Dark Forest."

It was so quiet; you could have heard the soft beating of a butterfly's wings. Even Brambleclaw had nothing to add which was a shock to Firestar, since he always had another word to say. Firestar opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it. He rested his gaze on the three. _There will be three, kin of your kin who hold the power of stars in their paws. _The prophecy sounded in Skywatcher's raspy voice whenever he looked at Lionblaze, Jayfeather or Dovewing. They were all positioned just below him, not looking as surprised as the others. Dovewing's pale golden eyes had a haunted look to them, as if she was staring into the blank eyes of a dead cat. Maybe she was, in another clan. Firestar remembered Blackstar at the Gathering the previous night, he was skinny and fur sagged under his tired looking amber eyes. Flesh and fur seemed to hang from his bones and he walked with a slight limp. Firestar had overheard Boulderfoot and Rushtail betting on how many more Gatherings he would be leader. The thought made his stomach turn like a rock rolling down a hill.  
>"I would like to hold conference with some cats," he meowed, "Graystripe, Dustpelt, Sandstorm, Brackenfur, Brightheart, Thornclaw, Squirrelflight, Sorreltail, Lionblaze, Jayfeather and Brambleclaw, please come back to my den and talk with me. There is something I need to discuss."<p> 


End file.
